chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

One week later...

“...and she’s really smart, Sam, I can assure you. If you talk to her once, she’ll respond to you immediately!”, Monica said, trying to sound as convincing as possible. Sam was standing right in front of her, with his arms crossed in front of his chest and eyebrows raised, and Andrew was next to Monica, with his hands tugged in his pockets and in absolute silence.

“I promise our wee Joy won’t be a bother!”, she concluded. The oldest angel looked at the ground, where a chubby black cocker spaniel puppy trotted around, playing with Andrew’s shoelaces:

“I believe she has some work to do on her behaviour, though!”, he said, not too convinced by the Irish angel’s words.

“Oh, no! She... She only does that with Andrew, because... because he likes it, don’t you, Andrew?”, she replied, but didn’t give any opportunity for him to answer to that question, “She’s a very polite wee lady and would never do such thing to other angel’s shoes, I can assure you! Take me, for example: she’s never done it to me!”

Hearing that, Andrew secretly rolled his eyes, suddenly feeling like hiding his face from Sam. And she kept on talking:

“Besides, she’s very sweet and affectionate with everybody, and always cheers me up when she’s around! And... oh, just look at her! She’s a wee baby and won’t need much space, you know.”

“Well, she can be small, but she seems rather heavy to me!”, Sam replied, still studying the animal. Monica smiled warmly:

“Yes, our Joy is a wee bit chubby, I admit it. But isn’t she cute?”

“Well...”, Sam looked at the blond angel, who remained strangely quiet during that conversation:

“What about you, Andrew? Aren’t you going to say something?”

Without really knowing what to say, Andrew raised his head and smiled nervously:

“Well I... I guess Monica has... has explained everything already... I mean... What else could I possibly say?...”

The oldest angel was thoughtful for some instants and finally spoke again:

“It’s just for a few days, right?”

“Oh, yes! We wouldn’t dream of taking advantage from your generosity more than that, Sam! We know how busy you are!”, Monica replied, exchanging a quick look with her dearest friend. Sam sighed deeply:

“It’s alright, then. I can take care of Joy for you.”

A smile of relief appeared on the two angels’ faces:

“Oh thank you! Thank you very much, Sam! These days will go by very fast, you’ll see!”

“Yes, Monica is right. Joy will keep you entertained all the way!”, Andrew said, scooping the little animal, who immediately covered his face with lots of tiny ‘kisses’, “And you’re going to behave yourself while we’re away, aren’t you, little one?”

A puppy bark was a reply to that question.

“You see, Sam? She’s really a lovely creature, isn’t she?”, the Irish angel proudly asked.

“Yes... On second thoughts, I think she seems to be a good company...”, he stroked the animal’s black fur and was greeted with some more ‘kisses’:

“Why do you think I named her ‘Joy’?”, Monica smiled wider than before. She and Andrew tickled her roundish belly:

“So, I guess it’s time to say goodbye for a little while!”, he said. But, at that moment, the expression on the little puppy’s face seemed to change, and she started to weep:

“I guess she’s crying...”, the Irish angel said, as surprised and worried as her dearest friend.

“Yes, you’re right...”, Andrew also frowned with some concern, as they had never seen the small animal do something like that before.

“Maybe it’s because she’ll be away from you all...”, Sam presumed. The Irish angel agreed:

“Yes. Tess and Adam will be together with us too and we wouldn’t be able to take care of Joy during our assignments...”

“There’s no problem, Monica, Andrew. I’ll keep a good eye on her for you! I bet we’ll get along quite well!”

Monica reached out and took the weeping little dog in her arms and held her tightly:

“Hey, what’s the matter with you, wee one? It’ll be just a few days, we won’t take long!”

She kissed the puppy’s head and gave her to Sam. Though also worried about the animal, Andrew glanced at his pocket watch:

“Monica, we have to go.”

“Alright...”, the two angels stroked the dog’s fur for the last time:

“G’bye little one!”

“We’ll see you soon, sweetheart!”

They bid Sam farewell and both angel and dog disappeared from the park they were in. Monica sighed deeply and somewhat sad:

“She’ll be ok, it’ll be just a couple of days!”, Andrew wrapped his arm around her shoulder:

“I know. I guess that’s how parents feel when they are away from their from their children, isn’t it?”, she half joked, trying to smile.

“In fact, that’s exactly how I feel, Angel Girl!”, he replied, also smiling, and they left the place afterwards.

*

Some days later...

A brilliant purple bowling ball rolled on the lane and the noise of many pins collapsing at the same time could be heard through all the bowling alley:

“It looks like some angels around here will need some extra bowling classes!”, Adam joked, looking at Andrew and Monica’s faces, and Tess joined him after having done the well succeeded play:

“I’ve already told them that there’s bowling and there’s Tess’ bowling!”, celebrated the dark skinned angel. Adam checked the score:

“I’m afraid there’s 99% of chances that we win this game, Andrew, unless you guys hit all the pins this time!”, he said, teasing the other 2 angels, “And I must say that this is a great way to celebrate the success of the many assignments we had in this city!”

But Andrew decided to ignore that comment: he grabbed a black ball and faced his co-worker:

“You know Adam, humans have a quotation that suits you perfectly well: don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched, which means that, if I were you, I wouldn’t celebrate so soon!”

Tess faced her ‘Angel Boy’ with some disregard:

“He’s right, Adam. Let’s wait for just, let’s say... 10 seconds after he throws that ball and then we can celebrate it properly!”

“But the game isn’t finished yet...”, Monica intervened, with confidence evident in her soothing (but rather hoarse) voice. Holding a handkerchief in her hand (it was possible to notice that she had a slight cold), she turned to her dear friend:

“...I know you will do your best.”, she said, reassuringly, and shooting him a loving look. He smiled and winked at her; his green eyes showing all the love and care he felt for the little Irish angel. Then, he took his position and threw the ball. All the 4 angels watched suspensefully as the object rolled on the lane and, seconds later, hit all the pins except one, which insisted to be standing on the left side of the pit:

“It’s a pity, Andrew. I don’t think you’ll be able to hit that one!”, Adam said, his amusement shared by his other partner.

“Well, there’s still one more chance...”, the blond angel remarked, analysing the best angle to throw the next ball. But, suddenly, an idea crossed his mind and, smiling, he looked at his partner:

“Hey, Monica, come on over here!”

Confused, she came closer to her dearest friend:

“Can I help you?”

“In fact, you can...”

Andrew picked the blue bowling ball and put it in her hands:

“You’re gonna help me to win this game, Angel Girl!”

The other angels exchanged a look of amusement, as if, at that moment, their victory was certain. And all that confidence her friend deposited on her scared the Irish angel:

“Oh no, Andrew, really, I... I couldn’t! You’re much better player than me. I’ve... I’ve only played it once and it was you who taught me...”

“And you’ve learned very well!”

Standing behind her, he placed his hands on her shoulders and gently turned her to face the alley before them:

“It needs an extra talent to hit the pins that are on the side of the pit...”, he whispered into her ear, “... and I don’t know anyone who could do that job better than you!”

His kind words made her a little more confident:

“Do you really think that I could possibly?...”

“I trust you’ll do your best, as always!”

“C’mon you two, this is not time for a conference!”, Tess grumbled, impatiently, “You’d better move on ‘cause it’s getting late and I think there’s a thunderstorm coming!”

Andrew and Monica exchanged another look; smiling the blond angel rubbed her shoulders and moved away to give her space so that she could play.

Monica took a deep breath, gave 3 steps and finally threw the heavy bowling ball. Slowly, the object rolled on the alley, with an uncertain destination at the beginning. Tess and Adam watched it with ironic faces and doing an extra effort not to laugh at that poor play. They were practically ready to celebrate their victory when the ball started to change the course of its direction and, 3 seconds later, hit the only pin that remained on the pit.

“She really made it!”, Adam exclaimed, as amazed as the others.

Monica’s eyes widened in surprise and shock, and Andrew wasted no time in grabbing his dearest friend by the waist, lifting her up off the ground and twirling her around in circles. Laughing loudly, she wrapped her arms around his neck.

“I never thought I would say that, but I’m starting to believe that luck really exists!...”, Tess mumbled, with her hands in her hips and still not believing in what had just happened.

“Great play, Monica!”, Adam greeted her, after Andrew had placed the angel on the floor, “The next time you’ll be playing in my team! And that wasn’t fair! Andrew kept a secret up his sleeve all the time!”, he concluded, extremely surprised, “You didn’t tell me you were that good!”

The Irish angel smiled sheepishly and with modesty:

“I really don’t think that I am that good, but I think that I’ve got a wee bit of ability with the pins that stand on the sides of the pit...”

Andrew wrapped his arms around her shoulder, bringing her closer to him:

“See? I told you you would help me to win this game, as I’ve always known you’re a very talented angel.”, he said, placing a tiny kiss on the tip of her nose. She smiled at him even more content and Tess grumbled even more distressed:

“Oh, please!... Let’s get outta here, ‘cause the weather forecast said it’ll rain tonight and I wanna be in a safe, cosy and dry place, away from all these pins, balls and specially away from all that sugar!”

All the other angels exchanged an amused look, noticing how that unexpected defeat had upset the supervisor and trying hard not to laugh at her bad humour.

As they were leaving the bowling house, the receptionist gave them 2 little trophies:

“You’ve managed to make the highest scores of the day”, she explained, “And as you were the winners, here is a special prize!”

Monica smiled at her:

“Thank you, that is very kind!”

“Oh, and I have to warn you, there’s a thunderstorm coming, so, if you plan to leave the city, don’t follow the main road, there was an accident on it and it’s partially blocked. Try the other road, the old one, that goes through the countryside.”

“Well, thank you for your suggestion baby.”, Tess replied, and the angels left the place.

When they went outside, however, they had an unpleasant surprise: the heavy rain the radio had been announcing hours before had arrived at the town earlier than what was expected:

“Should we go now or let’s wait until it’s over?”

“I think we don’t have much choice, Angel Boy. We should get to the neighbour city by tomorrow morning!”, Tess replied. Adam looked at the sky, covered with heavy thunderclouds, with concern:

“So we’d better move on before the weather gets worse!”

“I’ll go and get your car, Tess. You all wait here.”, Andrew said, and, facing the heavy rain, the blond angel ran towards the parking area.

Minutes later, the red Cadillac stopped in front of the bowling alley, and the angels got inside the car: Tess and Adam took the front seats, while Andrew and Monica sat in the back.

And, one hour later, what had began as just a heavy rain turned into a terrible thunderstorm: lightening, followed by loud thunders, crossed the dark skies. It was 6 PM but it looked like midnight, as darkness had quickly fallen upon the Earth and nobody dared to be out in the streets in such a dreadful scenario, and even the animals had found a shelter to hide themselves.

By that time, the angels had already reached the old road and left the city. Tess turned the radio on but it was very difficult to connect to a station due to the interference the storm caused on the radio waves.

“The storm is blocking all the transmissions.”, Adam said, frowning at the fury of the rain hitting the window pane of the car, “But, at least we know we have to follow this road.”

“Yeah, I just hope we can arrive at the next city as fast as possible!”, Tess stated, as another sequence of scary thunders echoed throughout the sky, causing Monica to cover her ears, visibly upset. Feeling the uneasiness flowing from her heart to his, Andrew wrapped his arms around her shoulder, bringing her closer to him. Thankfully, but still rather scared, she snuggled close to his chest and held him tightly. It was then that he noticed something:

“Monica, you’re hot...”, the blond angel said, gently placing his hand on her forehead.

“I think it is just a low fever...”, she replied, not wanting to make that another problem. But that was too late, as Tess and the others immediately turned their attention to her:

“Is it true, Angel Boy?”, the supervisor asked.

“Yes, it is, Tess. I’d say Monica is running a low fever.”, he confirmed, after double checking it. The oldest angel shook her head, concern evident in her eyes:

“I don’t like that at all. We have to get outta here and find a place to stay as fast as we can!”

“You’re right, Tess. I hope we can get rid of this storm pretty soon...”, he said, looking through the window and, like his angelic friends, not pleased at all with the weather conditions:

“...I wouldn’t like to stay here any longer...”

He kissed the top of Monica’s head with a worried expression on his face, as if there was something else about that horrible storm, something he could not explain, but which caused him to be twice scared.